While there my be some "venting" nature to my post, I definitely did not come here for that. In fact I like the car so much I was hoping y'all would tell me that this is "normal" and I'd probably carry on and live with it. That's really all I came here to find out - normal / not normal.
Given this is not normal and a manufacturing defect, I'll be returning the car as I don't like the hassle of dealing with product repairs. My personal experience repairing products is:
1. The product is never quite in the same condition after it's been taken apart.
2. With intermittent issues, the first attempt usually never fixes the issue.